Armin Hofmann
Armin Hofmann | |
|---|---|
 Hofmann at a summer design program at Disentis Monastery in Switzerland (1989) | |
| Born | June 29, 1920 |
| Died | December 18, 2020 |
| Nationality | Swiss |
| Known for | Graphic designer, educator, author |
Armin Hofmann (HonRDI) (29 June 1920[1] – 18 December 2020) was a Swiss graphic designer and design educator, considered one of the most influential figures of Swiss design.[2][3][4][5][6] Through a regular visiting professorship at Yale University School of Art in 1960–80s, Hofmann introduced the Swiss design style to the United States.[2][7]
Biography
[edit]Hofmann began his career in 1947 as a teacher at the Allgemeine Gewerbeschule Basel School of Art and Crafts at the age of twenty-six.[8] Hofmann followed Emil Ruder as head of the graphic design department at the Schule für Gestaltung Basel (Basel School of Design) and was instrumental in developing the graphic design style known as the Swiss Style. His teaching methods were unorthodox and diverse, and set new educational standards that became widely known in design institutions throughout the world.
In addition to his position at Basel School of Design, Hofmann taught workshops in graphic design at Yale University School of Art[7] and the Philadelphia Museum School of Art.[9] His notable students include April Greiman, Wolfgang Weingart,[10] Steff Geissbühler,[11] and Inge Druckrey.
Hofmann retired from teaching in 1986[12] and resigned from his position at Yale in 1993.[13] He died December 18, 2020[14] at the age of 100 in Lucerne, where he lived with his wife Dorothea Hofmann-Schmid.[15][16]
Influence
[edit]Hofmann's independent insights as an educator, combined with his rich and innovative powers of visual expression, created a varied body of work that included books, exhibitions, stage sets, logotypes, symbols, typography, posters, sign systems, and environmental graphics. His work is recognized for its reliance on the fundamental elements of graphic form – point, line, and shape – while subtly conveying simplicity, complexity, representation, and abstraction,[17][18] building on ideas originating in Russia, Germany and The Netherlands in the 1920s, alongside avant-garde art and International Style in architecture.[17]
Hofmann is well known for his poster designs,[19] which rejected ornamentation[2] and emphasized economical use of shape, fonts, and colour, in reaction to what Hofmann regarded as the "trivialization of colour."[20][21] Hofmann's most highly acclaimed posters are for Kunsthalle Basel.[2] His works have been exhibited at major museums, such as the New York Museum of Modern Art.[22]
In 1965 he wrote the Graphic Design Manual, an influential textbook in the field.[23][9]
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Exhibition poster for the Gewerbemuseum Winterthur, 1951 -
Exhibition poster for the Kunsthalle Basel, 1959 -
Exhibition poster for the Gewerbemuseum Basel, 1959 -
Exhibition poster for the Kunsthalle Basel, 1959 -
Exhibition poster for the Kunsthalle Basel, 1962
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Thinking Armin Hofmann. 06 29 2011 Thinking Graphic Designer, Thinking Typographer". thinkingform. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
- ^ a b c d Müller, Jens; Wiedemann, Julius; Varea Riley, Isabe l; Wulfekamp, Ursula; Fruhtrunk, Wolf, eds. (2017). The history of graphic design. Köln: Taschen. p. 469. ISBN 978-3-8365-6307-9.
- ^ Vasileva E. (2021) The Swiss Style: It’s Prototypes, Origins and the Regulation Problem // Terra Artis. Arts and Design, 3, 84–101.
- ^ Hollis R. Swiss Graphic Design: The Origins and Growth of an International Style, 1920—1965. New Haven: Yale University Press: 2001.
- ^ Budrick, Callie (2020-01-31). "Swiss Style: The Principles, the Typefaces & the Designers". PRINT Magazine. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
- ^ PrintMag (2012-08-15). "Armin Hofmann in Color". PRINT Magazine. Retrieved 2025-09-09.
- ^ a b PrintMag (2020-06-29). "Armin Hofmann at Yale: a Retrospective". PRINT Magazine. Retrieved 2025-04-06.
- ^ "Armin Hofmann | Biography | People | Collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum". collection.cooperhewitt.org. Retrieved 2017-03-05.
- ^ a b "Armin Hofmann, Poster Collection 7, 2003 - Design Reviewed". Retrieved 2025-09-09.
- ^ Heller, Steven (2021-07-19). "The Daily Heller: Wolfgang Weingart, Typographic Disruptor and Pioneer". PRINT Magazine. Retrieved 2025-09-09.
- ^ "A+D Museum Celebrates Opening of Armin Hofmann Farbe/Color Exhibit – Nov. 14, 2013 | AIGA Los Angeles". losangeles.aiga.org. Retrieved 2025-04-06.
- ^ "Armin Hofmann – Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) – 512 creative professionals from 46 countries". Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI). Retrieved 2025-04-06.
- ^ "Eye Magazine | Opinion | Why I left Yale". Eye Magazine. Retrieved 2025-09-09.
- ^ "Armin Hofmann Passes". PRINT Magazine. 2020-12-21. Retrieved 2025-09-09.
- ^ Magazine, PRINT (December 21, 2020). "Armin Hofmann Passes". PRINT Magazine.
- ^ Urs Tremp: Reduktion war Armin Hofmanns Haltung. In: NZZ am Sonntag, 3. Januar 2021, S. 20 (Epaper; NZZ.ch).
- ^ a b Hollis, Richard (28 April 2006). Swiss graphic design: the origins and growth of an international style, 1920–1965. Yale University Press. p. 260. ISBN 978-0-300-10676-3. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- ^ "Armin Hofmann: 1920–2020". Poster House. 2020-12-20. Retrieved 2025-04-06.
- ^ "Armin Hofmann : Design Is History". www.designishistory.com. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
- ^ Hofmann, Armin (1989). Wichmann, Hans (ed.). Armin Hofmann: His Work, Quest, and Philosophy = Werk, Erkundung, Lehre. Basel, Boston, Berlin: Berkhauser Verlag. p. 21. ISBN 0-8176-2339-6.
- ^ Heller, Steven (2020-11-18). "The Daily Heller: Armin Hofmann's 100 Years". PRINT Magazine. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
- ^ "Posters by Armin Hofmann | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2025-04-06.
- ^ "Armin Hofmann: Farbe/Color | Minneapolis College of Art and Design". www.mcad.edu. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
